The present invention relates generally to a string tension adjustment attachment for guitars and similar instruments and more particularly to a string tension adjustment attachment that can be installed on any guitar or other stringed instrument that has a bolt-on neck without invading or impairing the integrity of the instrument.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that string tension adjustment attachments for guitars and other stringed instruments are well known and have been in use for many years. To Applicant's knowledge, the first such device was invented by Parsons, et al. and patented in U.S. Pat. No. 3,512,443. The Parsons, et al. '443 string tension adjustment device was an immediate commercial success and many improvements followed. One of the first improvements was developed by Clarence Fender, maker of the extremely popular Fender electric guitar series and patented in U.S. Pat. No. 3,686,993. Subsequent improvements include the device described in the patent to Joseph Glaser issued in Sep. 16, 1981, U.S. Pat. No. 4,354,417; U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,212 to Carson; U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,670 to Borisoff; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,884 to Bowden.
By way of background, and to describe the type devices that have been improved by Applicant's invention, the disclosures of the above identified patents are incorporated herein by reference.
For purposes of convenience, in this description of Applicant's invention, the stringed instrument to which the improvement that Applicant has developed is to be attached will be referred to as a guitar. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the device can be applied to any stringed instrument which has a bolt-on neck.
A primary flaw with most of the prior art string tension adjustment devices is that installation of the device requires some modification of the instrument to which it is attached. The prior art devices, as indicated, generally impair the integrity of the existing instrument. For example, the Parsons device requires a fitting to pass through the body of the guitar, an extra body part mounted on the rear of the instrument and various screws screwed into the back side of the guitar to hold the mechanism in place. To the purest, mounting an attachment similar to the Parsons device on a Fender Stratocaster or a Telecaster guitar would be blasphemous, requiring a disfigurement of the back side of the body of the guitar and making a vintage instrument worthless. Similarly, the device described in the Fender patent itself destroys the integrity of the instrument by routing a cavity in the back side of the guitar to contain the leverage system that operates the string tension adjustment device of that particular invention.
The Glaser patent likewise discloses a routed channel in the back side of the guitar in order to accommodate the string tension adjustment device improvement that he developed. Routing out the back of the instrument will also drastically change the sound of the instrument.
The Carson device, while not necessarily disfiguring the instrument itself, gives the instrument the appearance of a guitar mounted in a body cast. While the device may be functional, it certainly is aesthetically displeasing and is unlikely to achieve significant commercial success.
Two string tension adjustment devices that are illustrated by the prior art which can be mounted on the guitar without damaging the guitar are the device developed by Borisoff, referred to as the "hip shot" and disclosed in the '670 patent referred to above, and the string tension adjustment device developed by Bowden and assigned to Gibson Guitar Corporation as is disclosed in the '884 patent referred to above. While the latter two devices can be mounted to a guitar without impairing its integrity, the Borisoff device is operated by pressing the lever against the hip of the artist and the Bowden device is operated by the heel of the hand of the guitar player. Both of these devices lack the convenience of operation that the strap pulled mechanism as originally developed by Parsons offers. Further, both of these devices rely on the string tension to return to pitch, a flaw that is exaggerated as strings get thinner.
What is missing in the prior art, then, is a device that can function as a string tension adjustment device for a guitar and can be attached by the user to a quality instrument without impairing the integrity of the instrument and yet can be operated by the pull of a shoulder strap of the player of the instrument. Such a device is presently lacking in the prior art and it is the objective of the present invention to fill this void.